Heart Of Fire; Veins Of Ice | Kimetsu No Yaiba Fanfic (Kyojurou's POV)

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Amidst the aftermath of the avalanche, the others each had their own difficulties to face. As yousuke and Fuyuko managed to find a spot beneath an overhanging stone cliff to wait the most of it out, the savage tide of white snow came to a halt.

The blade was heavy in his hand, as he stared out across the milky white surface of the destruction wrought on the mountain side.

What happened to Kyojuro?

The horse tentatively stepped out into the snow, gently testing the ground, and finding it stable, began to traverse the distance and head uphill. Fuyuko gazed downwards, at the large mounds of snow which had accumulated at the base, and strangely, she observed how the snow and the flow of the debris had seemed to curve away from the entrance of the mountain, and to the sides instead.

The snow was surprisingly stable, she noted, as Yousuke-san led the horse itself to continue scaling the mountain, to where the temple once was, there was only a stone structure remaining, the foundation of the temple, which was all that had remained. Everything else, from the wood, to the tori gates, the stone steps lead to nowhere.

And further beyond, the peak of the mountain was gone.

Fuyuko gasped at the sight.

Was that the result of a demon's power?

To decimate the land like a calamity?

She shuddered at the thought of Nobu, the kind guard who had all along been a demon in disguise, who held no empathy, no true concern the entire time. He had been a liar, through and through. Just like the others in the temple. They were all, bad, evil people. Twisted, cold, cruel, and ugly. Their souls were ugly, impure, disgusting. How pitiful.

"Are you alright?" Yousuke-san asked her, as he turned to glance at her. She nodded softly. At least this man was kind, good, like Rengoku-san. She prayed for his safety. But now, they needed to find him. Desperately.

-

Kanao saw a blaze of fire, a spark, from the top of the mountain for the barest of moments before the avalanche washed over the earth, swallowing and engulfing the dead trees, rocks, stones, and what was left of a walkable, trekkable path into hazy white nothingness.

She knew that that had been Rengoku-san.

The other demon slayers, as well as the guides which had guided them up, found and sought shelter towards the opposing side of the mountain rather than head all the way down back to the village. It was still uncertain what the extent of damage would be if they had remained at the base, where most of the accumulated debris and impact would have been at, whereas staying on the mountain itself would meant that once the wave had passed, it had passed.

She quietly gazed at the other members, before turning back to the peak of the mountain.

The demon had crumbled it down from the tip, and there was nothing more but a gaping crater where the sharp peak of the mountain was.

-

Masahiko looked from the streets of the village and out at the peak of the mountain. Next to him, Himura watched, eyes filled with interest at what had just transpired before them. The two horses, of which she kept close to her by tugging at the black reins, neighed with worry as their hooves clapped against the ground.

"Kyojuro-kun..." Masahiko spoke, as he reached for one of the reins of the horses, where HImura was more than eager to hand one over to him.

"He's a demon slayer. What did you expect him to do? Abandon his duties?" Himura spoke calmly though with a somewhat biting tone as she herself went around her chestnut coloured horse and got onto it, with Masahiko doing so as well before he took the lead to race up the mountain.

She urged her own horse to chase after the man, knowing that there was a slim chance that the demon slayer could have survived. Even if he had been a demon. The sun was rising, and it was only a matter of time before he would bleed out. Not that he should even be alive in the first place.

A being like him should not have existed.

To defy fate was to invite tragedy.

Masahiko-san himself knew that the best.

-

Above the snow, the glittering shards of Arctic Silver were scattered across the snow and ice, marking out the area with the broken blade, which glittered softly in the slowly rising sun, and reflected the lights rays across the surroundings.

Fuyuko and Yousuke catch a sight of this, as the two of them get off of the black horse, hurriedly searching and scouring the area for any sign of him.

-

Beneath, the demon and demon slayer waited.